Resale price maintenance and price-fixing has been and still is under scrutiny by the Croatian Competition Agency (the "Agency"). Carrying on from a number of high-profile cases, in February 2017 the Agency fined Gorenje Zagreb, a subsidiary of Slovenia's premier manufacturer of household appliances for HRK 1,557,000 (approximately EUR 206,000) ...
In the most recent ruling arising from the now infamous Sabine case (In re Sabine Oil & Gas Corp., 547 BR 66 (Bankr. SDNY 2016)), in which New York bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman held in favor of Sabine Oil & Gas Corp ...
INTRODUCTION: Recently, Spilman's Director of Energy & Transportation Services, Scott Rotruck, interviewed David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) ...
With 125 days left in 2014, we find ourselves looking at What’s Next for the oil & gas industry in the Marcellus and Utica Shale Plays for the remainder of 2014. It has been an eventful year and with just four months until 2015, we look forward and identify key events and issues that are top of mind. 2014 Events There are a wide range of upcoming events with programs and topics relevant to E&P, midstream, field services and downstream markets ...
Before ultimately answering the questions posed in the title above on a National Energy Plan, in full disclosure it should be noted that I have been employed by and/or have been an investor in oil, natural gas, coal and solar. The same applies for two railroads, CSX and NS, which hauled a lot of the aforementioned products or their supply chain components to market ...
by Allyn G. Turner, as seen in the December 2008 issue of IOGA Newsletter As we head toward 2009, West Virginians will be governed by second-term Governor Joe Manchin and the new administration of President-Elect Barack Obama. In the environmental regulation arena, this means change. West Virginia’s Executive Branch, including the Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”), may not be headed for immediate changes ...
With the recent proliferation of horizontal drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus region, there continues to be significant scrutiny on potential water quality impacts, including impacts to sources of water supply ...
Industrial facility owners and operators in West Virginia should be aware of new reporting requirements that will soon go into effect. In addition to currently mandated notifications to federal, state, and local agencies after certain events occur, some facilities will soon be required to notify the state within 15 minutes of discovering specific types of emergency events or be subject to a fine of up to $100,000 ...
Under legislation passed in December 2011, which established a comprehensive program for the regulation of oil and gas operations utilizing horizontal drilling methods and related activities, the West Virginia Legislature directed the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct certain studies to inform future decisions regarding the need, or lack thereof, for further legislation or regulations in this area ...
The U.S. General Services Administration recently added Green Globes as an additional third-party green building certification system for federal government construction projects. With this addition, many are now asking about the difference between Green Globes and LEED. Green Globes has emerged, in some parts of the U.S., as a rival building option to the more well-known Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) system ...
In our previous articles (part one, part two and part three), we discussed ways in which trademarks are maintained and protected through filings that are mandatory and which filings would result in abandonment or cancellation if not timely submitted. There are also optional filings a trademark owner can take advantage of to optimize and secure its rights under a U.S. trademark registration. An Affidavit of Incontestability Under Section 15 is one such method ...
Everyone likes pie of some sort, especially around the holidays. For those working in the construction industry, the rapidly developing energy sector appears to be an ever-expanding “Job Pie” for contractors designing, managing, supplying, engineering, clearing and erecting projects for participants in the energy sector. For clues on how to follow the pie crumbs to real construction jobs, I turned to Melvin Stroble of Black & Veatch. Here is a slice of the information Mr ...
The Law that “Amends the Gas Service Law and other legal provisions” (hereinafter, the “New Law” ) entered into force on February 9, 2017. The purpose of the New Law is to fill in the legal gaps existing in a market that, according to the parliamentary discussion, needs to improve the level of competition among their different actors ...
On February 17, 2017, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) withdrew its December 2016 orders requiring sole liability properties to provide additional security in the form of supplemental bonds for plugging, abandoning, and decommissioning Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”) wells, platforms and other facilities ...
U.S. Prudential Regulators and European Supervisory Authorities Follow CFTC in Issuing Regulatory Guidance Regarding March 1, 2017 Variation Margin Deadline, But Relief is “Risk” Based Last week we issued an alert advising of No-Action Letter 17-11 issued on February 13, 2017 by the U.S ...
The February issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) includes an international briefing article by SyCipLaw partner Aaron Roi B. Riturban entitled “Philippines: Promoting foreign investment”. The article focuses on Republic Act no. 10881, which lifts the foreign investment limitations found in laws governing adjustment companies, lending companies, financing companies, and investment houses. Read the article online at the IFLR website ...
CFTC Issues No-Action Relief to September 1, 2017 for Variation Margin Rule for Uncleared Swaps, But for Swap Dealers under Prudential Regulators’ VM Rule the March 1, 2017 Deadline Remains On February 13, 2017, the Staff of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued time-limited no-action relief (Letter No ...
As part of the implementation of the Mexican energy reform of 2013, several new regulations and administrative guidelines affecting the hydrocarbons and power industries were issued during December 2016 and January 2017. These are of particular importance to oil and gas producers, power generators and others looking to invest or expand operations in Mexico’s dynamic energy sector. I. Hydrocarbons December 2, 2016. Open season exemptions for natural gas pipelines ...
ARIPO Developments: Amended Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization’s (“ARIPO’s”) amended Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs (the “Protocol”), came into effect on 1 January 2017 and includes some important changes ...
The Mauritian Limited Liability Partnerships Act, 2016 – what you need to knowDo LLPs have independent legal personality? The Mauritian Limited Liability Partnerships Act, 2016 (the “Act”) came into force on 3 January 2017, and provides for the establishment of limited liability partnership (“LLP”) structures in Mauritius. The LLP is a welcome and awaited addition to the various types of vehicles that can be created in Mauritius ...
In its most important constitutional judgment ever, the UK Supreme Court has this morning confirmed that the UK Parliament in Westminster, rather than the British Government, must decide on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU). The Court has in this respect upheld the decision of the High Court as reported in our “Brexit Update ...
In May 2016, the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) added new Compliance & Disclosure Interpretations (“C&DIs”) to the existing catalog of C&DIs that addresses disclosures of“non-GAAP financial measures ...
The election of Mr. Donald J. Trump as President of the United States has resulted in much consideration by corporates of existing strategies with respect to Iran. Mr. Trump’s lack of experience in public office and some of his election campaign statements continue to cause anxiety. Will Mr ...
The Competition Commission found that the company EPS Distribucija, the only operator of the electricity distribution network in Serbia, abused its dominant position in the market of electricity distribution in Serbia. The abuse consists of applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with trading parties, whereby some of those trading parties have been placed at a competitive disadvantage in comparison to their competitors ...
Effective January 1, 2017, new rules will govern the taxation of mutual fund corporations structured as ?switch funds?. Investors switching between funds will no longer be able to do so without incurring taxable capital gains. This article summarizes the impact of such changes. Description of "switch funds" under the current regime In Canada, most mutual funds are structured as trusts and some are structured as corporations (referred to as ?corporate class funds?) ...
